Covering for buildings.



No. 838,232. PATENTED DEC. 11, 1906. J. 0. BALLENTINE. COVERING FOR BUILDINGS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 26. 1906.

JOHN O. BALLENTINE, OF NEWTON CENTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

COVERING FOR BUILDINGS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 1 1, 1906.

Application filed September 26, 1906. Serial No. 336,290.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J OHN O. BALLENTINE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Newton Center, in the county of Middlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Covering for Buildings, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like numerals 0n the drawings representing like parts.

Shingles, tiles, and other covering materials for the roofs and sides of buildings are employed largely because of their neat attractive appearance, notwithstanding the recognized fact that they are liable to loosen here and there, leak, break, and cause inconvenience because of the bringing together in a disconnected body of so many small individual pieces. Various sheet-like covering materials have been devised, which, however, are usually inferior in appearance to shingles, &c., above mentioned, or objectionable for other reasons.

The aim of my present invention is to provide a sheet-like covering material which has the beauty of appearance of shingles and the like, together with durability of shape, while at the same time being more air-tight, warmer, and more waterproof and durable. My covering is sheet-like, so that it is capable of being applied rapidly and cheaply over a large area in one piece, and it is light, tough, and permanent in shape, being formed or constructed to resemble in external appearance any configuration desired, such as that presented by shingles, clap boards, slate, tiles, or any usual ornamental or irregular constructions common to buildings. The under side, however, is flat, or, in other words, my covering material is not pressed out and does not contain hollows or cavities, but is solid and yet light, and hence cannot crush down or deteriorate under the action of the weather and the like. In this respect it is distinguished, for instance, from pressed-tin roofing and siding, which is noisy on account of the hollow construction, is attacked by the weather, rnore or less diilicult to lay, liable to collapse under pressure, and diflicult to make air-tight and warm.

Further advantages of my invention will be pointed out in the course of the following description of the constructional details, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which I have shown one of instance, it is herein shown as pressed to indicate shingles, having a flat upper portion 3, an inclined portion 4, and a sharply-depressed part or ridge 5, viewing the covering in one direction, separated by vertical grooves 6, said grooves being arranged in irregular order out of alinement with each other, according to the manner of the overlapping custom of laying shingles. I have not shown the various other shapes in which I mold the material to imitate tiles, clapboards, and the like, as one illustration is suilicient to make my invention clearly apprehended. The outer surface of the material 1 is dense and tough and consists of durable Waterproof material pressed hard, but preferably flexible, so as to be capable of permitting the covering material to be rolled in long large rolls, so as to cover a large area of the building without joints. I employ rubberoid or any other waterproof durable tough surface material for the outer coating 1. The filler 2 is composed of wood-pulp, paper-pulp, felt, or other similar firm hard cheap material for the purpose of preserving the shape without materially increasing the weight of the covering. To give still greater toughness for securin the covering in place by nails or the like, preferably secure to the back of the filler 2 and outer coating 1 a thin backing 7 of tough fabric.

At one edge I separate or do not connect the layer 1 with the filler 2, as shown clearly at 8, so that when the material is laid this edge piece 1 may be raised, as indicated in dotted lines, Fig. 2, thereby permittin a tack or nail 9 to be driven through the filer material 2 and the backing 7, whereupon the flap-piece 8 is cemented down over the filler 2 and the tacks 9 permanently closing and concealing the securing means. In laying the material the upper edge is thinned down to a sharp edge, as indicated at 10, for receiving a tack 11 and thereupon the adjacent edge 12 of the next piece of covering material is eemented tightl over the securing-nails 1 1 and the thinned-dbwn edge 10. The portion 12 is provided with a ridge 13, the same as the intermediate ridges 5, already mentioned and as shown further toward the left, Fig. 2.

In use the builder selects the particular pattern and size of my covering material best adapted for the given place to be covered, either a roof, side of a building, &c., and commences at the bottom, securing the lower edge, as shown at the extreme left-hand end of Fig. 2. He rolls the material upwardly fiat against the building, securing its upper edge, as shown at the right-hand end of Fig. 2, and then cements the lower edge of the next roll or piece of covering on top of the thin upper edge of the lower piece, so as to cover the fastening nails or tac s, and in like manner secures the second piece, and so on with the third piece, until the entire building is covered. As the material is solid-i. a, has no cavitythere is no danger of its collapsing, no water can get into any cavities on its inner surface, it is light, and yet absolutely imperviousto air, becauseof the dense tough skin-like surface. Said surface is also Waterproof and durable.

The material and formation of my covering are such that it may readily be dressed or cut with the usual carpenters tools practically the same as wood, so that it may be conveniently jointed or applied to diflicult places without inconvenience. It can be painted or otherwise decorated the same as ordinary roofing or siding, and above all it presents the same neat attractive appearance as that secured by the more expensive shingles, tiles, or the like.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that my invention is capable of a wide range of embodiments, as its construction is such that it may be permanently formed to practically any shape desired. Also while my covering is primarily intended for external use it is not restricted thereto.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. As an article of manufacture, a unitary covering-sheet for building construction,

having a skin-like outer surface of hard, tough, dense, waterproof material, and a light body of'firm, fibrous filler material, affording substantial support.

2. A covering material for buildings, comrising an external skin-like surface ofthin, iiard, tough material impervious to water, pressed out to present a series of ornamental configurations, and filling material perma nently secured to the back of said outer surface material and filling the same in solidly and level at the back side for enablin the covering to be laid flat against the bui ding in contact therewith at all oints.

3. A covering material or buildings, comprising an external skin-like surface of thin, hard, tough material impervious to water, pressed out to present a series of ornamental configurations, filling material permanently secured to the back of said outer surface material and filling the same in solidly and level at the back side for enablin the covering to be laid flat against the bui ding in contact therewith at all points, and a thin sheet of tough backing material secured flat against the back. of said filler.

4. A covering material for buildings, comprising an external skin-like surface of thin,

hard, tough material impervious to water,

pressed out to present a series of ornamental configurations, and filling material permanently secured to the back of said outer surface material and filling the same in solidly and level at the back side for enabling the covering to be laid flat against the building in contact therewith at all points, said covering at its ,lower edge having the outer skin-like surface detached fromthe front side of the filler for enabling securing devices tobe inserted through the filler, to be covered there- 1filter by cementing said outer surface to said In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN O. BALLENTINE. 

